********************************************************************** The Sailor Scribe #2 A Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/~Sandtiger ********************************************************************** March 30, 1997 `*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*` Table of Contents `*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*` Part A Introduction Letter from the Publisher Letter from the Editor-In-Chief NA Sailor Moon Current Status of SM in NA Part B The Jihad Sailor Moon ala Southern Humor Part C Moon Bunny's Sailor Moon Page Reviews Discussion Topic Replies Trading Post New Sailor Moon URLs ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Introduction ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Well we've managed to get the second issue out without too much trouble. Some interesting things have happened in the last month. First of all 17 new episodes should be heading to Canada this fall as opposed to the rumored 26. Strangely enough some SMS merchandise started trickling out into Canada before the announcement. It's quite possible that DIC was going to do 26 episodes but changed its mind since it's obvious they don't want to get into the many issues that SMS would raise. I fear SMS will never see the light of day in NA. Also to date there is no known US affiliate that has taken the reruns of SM. MixxZine should arrive sometime next week for subscribers. For those of you who have yet to subscribe to MixxZine and want to, here is the pertinent information: http://www.mixxonline.com/ or if you want to skip the intro go here: http://www.mixxonline.com/corepage.html or to simply subscribe: 1-888-MIXX NOW The Scribe is looking for reporters! ** We're looking for somebody who can research anime conventions. This will involve getting information about conventions(i.e. when, where, what's going to happen) ** We're looking for someone to research the VAs(not just the NA ones). What other jobs they've done. If you're interested in either of these please contact santiger@pcl.net I've also promoted one of the editors to partner, Beruche . This will help to speed things up as well as take some stuff off of my back. I'm also looking into a mass mailing system to improve the distribution of the Scribe. If any of you would like to print out the Scribe and distribute it yourselves please tell us and do not alter any of it. If you have any comments about the Scribe please e-mail santiger@pcl.net or beruche@concentric.net Robin Kloster Publisher of the Sailor Scribe _________________________________________________________________________ A Few Squeaks From The Stress Toy ================================= Another month and another deadline over, thankfully. Now I can go back to a regular sleeping routine and meal schedule. Been a rather interesting month with the confirmation of the dubbing of the end of the R series, the best one of all if you ask me. With this it leaves a lot of unanswered questions: Will S ever be dubbed? Will the movies hit the shores of North America? What's the damage toll gonna be on the new scripts? Where does MixxZine come to play in all this? Why am I rambling on like a bloody moron? My answer to all of this: I don't know. I never claimed to be a smart man, devilishly charismatic yes, but smart no. I have neither the knowledge nor the contacts of many to even make a reasonable guess. But fact is that we, the general public, are not gonna know. Not until one company, DiC, plays all of their cards. Like it or not, they are the company to make or break Sailor Moon in North America. And intuition says that they have a few more available to be played. One can only speculate, and hope, of the future of Sailor Moon here. As an aside, we at the Scribe are always looking and accepting articles from the general public. So if you have an opinion, or an idea for an article, send it our way. It has to be better than mine above. ^^; Send to either santiger@pcl.net or beruche@concentric.net, and we'll get back to you. Back to the cold tiring chambers of the editing room, so ja ne and keep reading. Beruche Editor-In-Chief of the Sailor Scribe `*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*` _ _ __ _ _ | |\ | |_ |\/| By Brad Lascelle | | \|EWS | OR | |ARCH | ------------------------------------------- Another month... another issue of the Scribe... and another pile of new developments regarding SM in North America. Last month, you got the scoop on the new SM dubbed episodes which will be heading into production later on this spring right here in the Sailor Scribe. For those of you who've missed out on the various updates on the situation and various other fronts, here's a brief recap of SM relevant happenings from the last 28 days... ========================================================================= MIXXZINE SHIPS OUT ------------------ The premiere issues of MixxZine have finished printing and were sent out to VIP subscribers on Friday. Each issue weighs in at a plump 9.9 ounces and will be jam-packed with 212 pages of translated manga bliss featuring the antics of Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Parasyte, and Ice Blade. We'll be including a comprehensive review of the launch issue in the next issue of the Sailor Scribe, which will be available on the weekend of April 25th-27th. The retail launch issues, which will hit newsstands on July 11th, will be a little larger (with more ads) and a little more comprehensive. For more information relevant to MixxZine, check out the official MixxOnline website at www.mixxonline.com, or send E-Mail to info@mixxonline.com. There's a remote possibility that an online conference will be slated for sometime in April or May for Mixx readers to discuss the VIP issues and other upcoming Mixx ventures with Mixx president, Ron Scovil, directly. If a date and time are slated, you'll be sure to hear about it on the Scribe home page and we'll have a transcript of the key highlights of what's discussed in a future issue of the Scribe. ========================================================================= NEW OFFICIAL DUBBED EPISODES ---------------------------- 17 new episodes are indeed on their way to Canada for sometime in the fall, and for Australia and New Zealand shortly thereafter. As far as Canada goes, the new episodes will be carried by both YTV and Global on a daily basis (as opposed to weekly). An expected release date is anticipated for late August or early September... however, one is not slated at this time, as the duration of the production process has yet to be determined or time lined. DiC is presently waiting to receive the original raw footage from Toei... the episodes will then be edited at Burbank before being sent up to Optimum in Toronto for timing, scripting, and the actual voice tracks. These new episodes won't be heading to the U.S. via the Program Exchange syndication deal in all likelihood, but it is believed that DiC is working with Disney with regards to making some kind of arrangements to get them aired through ABC on Saturday mornings or through Disney's various cable channels. Needless to say, Disney's newly revitalized interest in the Sailor Moon franchise is certainly promising. DiC no longer has the marketing clout to give the SM franchise the backing it needs to succeed in the United States as we've seen through their efforts over the last two years, however, Disney's full backing would certainly make a notable difference and would serve as the catalyst the SM franchise needs to truly stand a chance of thriving in the American market. More details on this ever-evolving situation will follow in the days and weeks to come. DiC's major mid-March announcement never materialized, although it essentially involved the ongoing developments which have surfaced in recent weeks. ========================================================================= LIVE-ACTION SAILOR MOON MOVIE BEING CONSIDERED ---------------------------------------------- In the works for several months now, Disney is pursuing a licensing arrangement with Toei to produce a live-action SM Movie based on the anime series we know and love. Renny Harlin and Geena Davis have expressed an interest in tackling such an endeavor for some time now through their production company, Forge Productions... known for such films as The Last Kiss Goodnight and Cutthroat Island. Considering Geena's highly visible presence in both those films, one has to wonder if she's already penciled herself in to play Queen Beryl. :) At any rate, we'll have to wait and see what materializes. The negotiations for these rights have yet to be finalized, although renowned screenwriter Maxine Adams has been signed aboard for such a project. I talked with Toei's North American VP Mary Jo Winchester regarding the live-action project earlier last week, and she made a point of stating that Sailor Moon has a very strong story underlying its basic premise... something that the folks in Hollywood simply can't get enough of. Judging by Toei's enthusiasm towards such a project and Disney's involvement, one would tend to think that getting the green light on this project is purely a formality at this point in time. A transcript of an article regarding Max Adams and her upcoming work which appeared in the March 26th issue of Daily Variety has been kindly made available by the folks at 'Save Our Sailors'. You can read through the entire story at... http://dau.physics.sunysb.edu/~ming/sos/news/daily.html ========================================================================= FANDUB DEVELOPMENTS ------------------- Many of you who venture onto alt.fan.sailor-moon regularly will have likely heard about the fandub project headed by Mark Sprague, which was originally conceived late last summer. Needless to say, it has run into its share of delays... the majority of which involving delays regarding receiving tracks of audio dialogue from various volunteers which have delayed the project for the last 3-4 months. Whether or not this will be a problem area which will be suitably addressed down the road isn't assured, although it's remained a predicament ever since it was delved into considerably in an interview I conducted with Mark back in November. If there are any Scribe readers out there who are interested and would be able to COMMIT their time and efforts into recording dialogue accurate, dependably, and speedily for the fandub initiative, you're highly encouraged to get in touch with Mark at crs1822@inforamp.net, and he'll fill you in on the necessary details. The key element is commitment... and if you have the time free and the facilities to record lines of dialogue in .WAV format, it certainly is a rewarding experience. For the record, Mark has recently committed to finally getting the first round of fandub tapes completed and shipped off by the end of next week. Whether or not this date will be able to be met remains to be seen, but the Scribe will be sure to keep you up to date. This first round of tapes will include fandubbed footage of Episodes 90-93... the first four episodes from Sailor Moon S. After these tapes are released, there are plans in place to tackle Episodes 73-76 from SMR... which follow the first-season dubbed run which DiC released in 1995. However, these episodes would not be available for long as Mark as already made it clear the he'll be taking any fandub episodes off the market once they've been dubbed over by DiC. And as you already know, the remainder of SMR is due out this fall. For additional information regarding the fandub, head to its official website at... http://pw2.netcom.com/~jetwolf/slrmoon/smgrafix.html ========================================================================= NA 'VOICE STARS' DEVELOPMENTS ----------------------------- The SM references on the official 'Voice Stars' website at www.voicestars.com have been removed due to political pressure... however, news and info regarding the North American members of the voice cast is still available and previously announced efforts regarding audio tapes and hands-on studio sessions for aspiring voice actors in the Toronto area are still planned to go ahead. For details regarding those endeavors, feel free to contact Steve Mittler at smittler@msi.net. The original comprehensive NA voice cast list has been relocated to the Internet Movie Database, which can be accessed at us.imdb.com an by searching for Sailor Moon. Future public appearances by the members of the North American voice cast will not be slated for 1997, unless there are efforts by the official sanctioning bodies of the SM franchise to further their exposure. However, individual VAs may still be contacted with regards to appearing at various anime conventions and events throughout the year so be sure to keep your ears peeled. The ANorth convention in Toronto on August 9th is the most likely venue for a possible appearance at this point in time. As stated previously, the Sailor Scribe will be bringing you exclusive interviews with the cast and production staff and details directly from the studios in Toronto when everything gets into full swing later on this summer. ========================================================================= SYNDICATION RUNDOWN ------------------- As stated earlier, a number of local affiliates have already established preliminary schedules for the summer and fall seasons. While many of these schedules won't be finalized for some time, some affiliates are providing clear answers on whether or not they'll even be considering Sailor Moon for inclusion in their lineups when they assess The Program Exchange's second-run offerings sometime around April or May. (Some detailed information regarding the May 'sweeps' period is presently available on the SOS homepage.) The Sailor Scribe presently has a brief list of affiliates who will definitely NOT be picking up Sailor Moon in syndication later on this summer or fall. This list will continue to be updated in the weeks leading to May through your cooperation by contacting your local affiliates and inquiring as to what their present programming plans are. If you would like to be of assistance, you can simply request contact information regarding the potential affiliates in your area by sending me E-Mail at panda@huron.net and providing information on where you presently reside. I'll do my best to get back to you with all of the relevant details you'll need as soon as humanly possible. The present list of affiliates who will NOT be picking up SM includes: * KBHK-TV - UPN (San Francisco, CA) * KFBT-TV - WB (Las Vegas, NV) * KUPN-TV - UPN (Las Vegas, NV) * KVVU-TV - Fox (Las Vegas, NV) * WBNX-TV - Ind (Cleveland, OH) * WLMT-TV - UPN (Memphis, TN) * WPIX-TV - WB (New York City, NY) That's a small total of 7 out of approximately 278 total affiliates which pick up syndicated animation throughout various markets across the U.S. mainland. We hope to further narrow down the field, so be sure to give us a hand. Your assistance is appreciated. ========================================================================= BUENA VISTA VIDEOS HIT THE STREETS ---------------------------------- Three new episode compilation tapes from the original run of SM episodes were released by Buena Vista through Toys 'R Us and Suncoast Video chains in the United States... and through an assortment of retail outlets in Canada... on March 11th. These videos included... 'Jupiter & Venus Arrive' -- featuring "Jupiter Comes Thundering In" and "Sailor V Makes The Scene" 'Secret Identities' -- featuring "A Crystal Clear Destiny" and "A Reluctant Princess" 'The Good & The Bad Queen' -- featuring "The Past Returns" and "Day Of Destiny" These videos included a promotional offer for a free issue of MixxZine, and will be followed down the road by the release of 'The Doom Tree' box set from the first story arc of Sailor Moon R. That set is presently slated for release on April 22nd... shortly before the release of next month's issue of the Sailor Scribe. ========================================================================= ANIME NORTH HITS CANADA ----------------------- Anime North... Canada's first-ever full-fledged anime convention... will be held on August 9th at the Michener Institute in Toronto. Guests of honor for the event include Geri Bertolo... an animator whose credits include work on Disney's Gargoyles, as well as Flash Gordon... and David Pulver... the mind behind several anime-related roleplaying modules from mecha to Bubblegum Crisis. For specific information relating to the event, head on over to the official ANorth website at http://www.interlog.com/~dfs/anime.north/ or E-Mail Donald Simmons, the principle organizer of ANorth, at dfs@interlog.com. ========================================================================= MARCH NEWS BRIEFS ----------------- * DiC is considering picking up the rights for the three SM Movies and releasing them as televised 60-minute specials. These would likely be distributed through YTV in Canada, and possibly through one of Disney's cable networks in the United States sometime down the road. * Sailor Moon SuperS Episodes 160-163 are now available on laserdisc through the UCI Bookstore and through various importers. * The CBC Undercurrents segment focusing on the 'otaku' phenomenon, which featured appearances from SM legendary info guru, Hitoshi Doi... the 'Ultimate Sailor Mercury Fan' Greg Taylor... and prominent SM personality, Steve Mittler... was aired once again on the network Friday night at 7pm. It'll be rebroadcast for a final time later on this weekend on CBC Newsworld. * YTV has launched their official website dedicated to Sailor Moon and the show's programming lineup on the network in Canada. It can be reached at http://www.ytv.ca/shows/sailor/index.asp. ========================================================================= That about wraps things up for this month. A number of the above topics have been expanded on in greater depth in previous installments of the Sailor Scribe News Briefs which are available through the official Scribe website. Updated details and information as it develops will also be available through the Scribe website throughout the month of April. If you have any questions relating to any of the above topics or just want to chat, don't hesitate to write me at panda@huron.net or track me down on EFNet in IRC under the handle, 'Panda'. == Brad Lascelle `*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*` --=====================_859744600==_--